A BRIDGWATER man who unexpectedly found himself riding shotgun in downtown USA in his 20s and went on to head the biggest community family in Somerset has stepped down, writes John Jacques from the Bridgwater Carnival Committee.

Mike Crocker has completed a five-year term as President of Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival - a time, because of Covid, of unprecedented highs and lows for carnival. 

Mike was born into the carnival family in 1949 – his uncle was a founder member of the now-disbanded Cardiff Arms Carnival Club.

While still a youngster at Albert Street School Mike and some classmates went to check out the club’s cart and were hoisted aboard for a close-up encounter. For Mike there was no looking back.

As a first-year student at secondary school, he and some friends entered the carnival walking class – an experience he describes as incredible, exciting, and a good laugh.

A week after leaving school aged 15, Mike was happily at work as an apprentice engineering mechanic at the Firearms Company in Colley Lane – but carnival was his first love. He saved all his annual leave to make sure he could take a full part in carnival with British Flag, the club he joined as a teenager.

The Firearms Company was also a major influence on Mike’s life. The firm traded in the USA and Mike was sent to North Carolina to resolve a problem with their best-selling rifle.

It was the late 60s, a time of civil unrest in America, and Mike was on a car journey through a poor district.

The driver casually advised Mike they’d be ignoring red traffic lights while indicating there was a loaded handgun in the glove box ‘just in case’!

After two months Mike returned to his quieter hometown streets just days before the concerts. Although he’d missed the rehearsals, he still took part. ‘No one noticed!’ he smiled.

At 33, Mike was married with a family and a mortgage. He doubled his pay by taking a shift work job with Courtaulds Bonded Fibre Fabric, but that meant no time for club work. Instead, he became the then youngest member of the carnival committee where he has served for 42 years.

Mike was elected as Carnival President in 2019 which, unknown to anyone at the time, was to witness the last carnival parade for three years.

Mike feared the worst as tales began to surface of clubs’ financial worries and loss of members.

The covid pandemic brought carnival to a halt. On the night of the scheduled parade, Mike cut a lonely figure pushing his bicycle along the entire route from 6pm – just to say to himself that carnival was not forgotten. As he walked alone, he noticed, with a smile, others doing the same!

It was a spark of hope which ignited an unexpected explosion of global publicity - an invitation to cart builders to create an entry for the pageant to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. For Mike and his wife Sue, taking part in the pageant was a lifetime high.

And when the Bridgwater parade resumed, all fears which arose in during the pandemic, melted away as clubs returned to the streets with a new wave of enthusiasm.  

As he steps back from the top job, Mike has high expectations for the future of carnival.

He hopes for full realisation of their Bristol Road development aspirations and he’s making a ‘come and join us’ call for younger blood to help steer the committee into a bright future.